Providing Accommodations for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Patrons in Your Library (PCI Webinar)

This session unpacks the legal requirements for communication access under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and provides a guide to effective use of accommodations such as interpreters, captioning, front-line communication techniques, and more. We’ll also cover easy and inexpensive solutions that can be used by library staff at all levels. 

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to: 

• Describe their library’s legal requirements for providing communication access 
• Name at least accommodations that can be deployed by staff at all levels 
• List three (3) factors to consider when communicating through an interpreter 

Kathy MacMillan ~ Biography 

Kathy MacMillan (she/her) is an American Sign Language interpreter, instructor, consultant, writer and signing storyteller. She holds National Interpreter Certification (NIC) from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. Kathy is the author of the Little Hands Signing board book series (Familius Press) and Little Hands and Big Hands: Children and Adults Signing Together (Hands Up Press), as well as many other books for children, teens, and adults. She has worked in school and public libraries for over 25 years, and has trained thousands of library staff members on serving the Deaf community, signing in storytime, and engaging programming techniques. Kathy holds a Master of Library Science from the University of Maryland, a Bachelor of English from the Catholic University of America, and a Certificate of American Sign Language Interpreting from the Community College of Baltimore County. She lives in Baltimore, MD.